


Walking on Eggshells

by Shi_Toyu



Series: Here There Be Dragons [6]
Category: Iron Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Caves, Dragon Eggs, Dragon Riders, Dragons, Eggs, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-05
Updated: 2017-03-05
Packaged: 2018-09-28 12:17:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,102
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10100279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shi_Toyu/pseuds/Shi_Toyu
Summary: Tony and Jarvis make an unexpected discovery is a cave. Jarvis gets very upset.





	

**Author's Note:**

> MORE DRAGON FICS!

Wind rushed past Tony, the bitter cold burning his cheeks. Beneath him, Jarvis’s sinuous body twisted in a tight spiral as they cut through the air. His wings were tucked in close as they rocketed toward the ground. Tony’s laugh was snatched away by the wind before the sound could even reach his own ears. The earth rose towards them, details becoming clear, growing larger. Jarvis snapped his wings out at the last second, catching a balloon of air and coasting in for a gentle landing. His heavy body set down with a thump, but Tony barely even felt it. He thumped Jarvis’s shoulder in a solid pat before undoing the straps around his legs and jumping down from the saddle.

“Now _that_ was a ride!” he crowed.

Jarvis snaked his head around to nose at him, nearly knocking Tony off balance.

_‘I do worry about your need for a thrill,’_ the dragon spoke into his mind. _‘One of these days, you’re going to get yourself killed.’_

Tony waved off his concern, already scrambling ahead over the rocks covering the mountain’s base.

“Not a chance. You’d never let that happen.”

Jarvis huffed, dark smoke billowing out from his snout and rising into the air.

_‘I assure you, Young Sir, there is only so much that is within my ability to prevent.’_

Tony paused, glancing over his shoulder at the dragon. His youthful face showed none of his usual humor.

“I trust you,” he said, utterly serious. “There’s no one I’d rather have taking care of me.”

The dragon let out a deep, rumbling purr.

_‘As if I would trust you to the talons of any other.’_

Tony grinned, eyes crinkling, before turning back to continue his mad scramble.

“Hurry up! We’re almost there!”

Jarvis leaned forward and used his snout to help heft the young man up over the next rock. A cave loomed out of nowhere, shrubbery and rocks concealing it from anyone who didn’t already know it was there. Tony headed in without hesitation, leaving Jarvis to hover outside, too large to fit. Tony picked up a branch from just inside the entrance and held it out to the dragon.

“If you would be so kind…”

Jarvis spat a little ball of fire that set the branch ablaze. Tony reached out to rub a hand over his snout.

_‘Tread carefully,’_ the dragon warned, trepidation clear in his thoughts. _‘We cannot know what has transpired since last we were here.’_

Tony rolled his eyes at the other’s worry.

“It’s been a _day,_ J. What could have happened? We chose this place for a reason. Nobody’s gonna find it. They’re safe here.”

They’d had to drop their prize in a hurry, too, to make sure the riders of the Ten Rings didn’t catch up to them. There was no way Tony and Jarvis could have fought off the other riders while being so loaded down, though, and one of the eggs had already been damaged in the escape. Now they needed to get the eggs and get them back to SHIELD before the Ten Rings sent out more riders.

_‘For me, Young Sir.’_

Tony felt a little guilty. Howard had been Jarvis’s original rider and the dragon hadn’t been able to save him in the end. It only made sense he’d be even more cautious with Tony.

“I will,” he promised, and placed a hand on his sword hilt before proceeding further into the darkness of the cave.

He hadn’t been able to take the three eggs very deep before, what with the hurry of their flight, but they were still around a couple bends. Jarvis was well out of sight by the time Tony found them… or what was left of them, at least. Shell fragments scattered the ground where Tony had so carefully tucked the eggs away, and the dirt was churned up and disturbed. Tony’s heart pounded in his chest. Had something found the eggs and eaten them? God, Tony hadn’t checked this cave yet this season. _Stupid._ What if a bilgesnipe had moved in? They loved dragon eggs.

“Jarvis!” he called back over his shoulder, only to freeze when he heard scuffling from further into the cave.

Bilgesnipes wouldn’t exactly turn down a dragon rider as a snack, either. He drew his sword and inched toward the noise, ready to strike at a moment’s notice.

_‘Return to me,’_ Jarvis demanded in his head. _‘Do not be rash, Young Sir!’_

Tony gulped. Jarvis was probably right. It wasn’t that Tony couldn’t handle a bilgesnipe, but the close quarters of being in a cave certainly wouldn’t be working in his favor. If the bilgesnipe, or whatever it was, had already noticed Tony, which it obviously _had_ , it would follow Tony out of the cave. It would also be far easier to fight with Jarvis at his side, out in the open where there was more maneuverability.

Tony slid one foot back in preparation of a retreat when an odd sort of chirping sound came out of the of darkness where the shuffling had been. He paused. That certainly didn’t sound like a bilgesnipe. There was another little chirp and then a tiny snout poked its way into the circle of light Tony’s torch was giving off. Tony gaped as a baby dragon crept slowly toward him. It was a dark grey color, sleek and beautiful like all the members of its species. Dark, liquid-y eyes stared up at Tony as it emitted another little chirp.

Tony dropped to his knees in the dirt that covered the cave floor, sheathing his sword. He held a hand out toward the young dragon, no more than a few hours old. God, he must have been so scared, coming out of his shell all alone in a cave without anyone around to take care of him. And where were the other two? Nearby, he hoped. He’d have to go find them.

“Hey, there,” he called softly. “It’s okay. I’m one of the good guys, I promise. You don’t have to be afraid. I’ve come to take you somewhere you’ll be safe, with lots of other awesome dragons who will teach you be a total badass when you grow up. You’ll love it.”

The dragon blinked at him with two sets of eyelids before launching itself bodily toward him and knocking him flat onto his back. The torch was knocked from Tony’s hand and extinguished as it rolled across the ground. Tony gave a cry of surprise as they were plunged into total darkness, followed by a flurry of colorful swears. Outside of the cave, Jarvis roared thunderously.

_‘ **Anthony!** ’_

Tony winced at the booming yell in his mind, and the dragon on his chest whined and cowered closer to him. There were twin cries from the darkness and then two warm bodies were pressing up against Tony on either side, attempting to climb up onto his chest, too. He grunted at the sudden added weight and instinctively brought his arms around to steady the scaly masses. He guessed he wouldn’t have to go looking for the other newly-hatched dragons after all.

“I’m fine!” he called out, for Jarvis’s sake. It sounded like the dragon was literally trying to dig his way into the cave. “Just… got a little surprised, that’s all!”

_‘Come to me,”_ the dragon demanded. _‘Return to my side.’_

Tony couldn’t have ignored that tone even if he wanted to. Jarvis brokered no argument. He struggled to stand without letting any of the three dragons still clinging to his leather armor drop. God, they were _heavy_ for such little guys. He staggered sideways and banged his shoulder into the cave wall.

“Fuck!” he cursed under his breath as pain shot through him. “You just _had_ to put out the torch, didn’t you? I’m probably going to kill myself trying to get back out of here now.”

One of the dragons squirmed and scrambled further up his body, nearly making him drop all of them, until it could perch on his shoulder. Moments later, the warm glow of firelight brought dim awareness back to Tony’s world. It wasn’t as bright as the torch had been, since the young dragon could only sustain a small amount of fire in its maw, but it would be enough to keep Tony from breaking his neck.

“You,” he told the dragon very seriously, “are officially my favorite.”

The dragon wrapped its tail around Tony’s neck to steady itself as Tony began the trip back out of the cave. Jarvis was pacing back and forth in front of the entrance, deep gouges in the rock and dirt confirming Tony’s theory that he’d tried to dig his way in. One of the boulders that usually hid the entrance had been pulled away and rolled down the hill.

“So, uh, I guess we won’t be using this cave as a hiding spot anymore.”

Jarvis stared at him.

_‘Hatchlings,’_ was all he said, though his tone betrayed his surprise.

Tony shrugged carefully so as not to dislodge his passenger.

“Yeah. It looks like the eggs were closer to hatching than we thought. This dummy,” he hefted the dragon in his right arm up a smidge, “tackled me and made me drop the torch, put it out completely. That’s what made me cry out.”

Jarvis cocked his head just barely to the side.

_‘He tackled you?’_

“Yeah. He seemed pretty scared in there so I tried crouching down and talking to him and then he just jumped on me. Then you were roaring and causing such a ruckus out here that I guess the other two decided they’d be better off with me and cuddled up, too.”

Jarvis was silent, his gaze drifting to the other dragons. A quiet rumbling sound rose from the back of his throat as he lowered his head closer. All three young dragons attempted to press themselves closer to Tony. Dummy let out a series of chirps not unlike the ones he had earlier in the cave. Jarvis seemed to freeze for a moment before throwing his head back and roaring his laughter to the sky. Tony, for his part, was very confused.

“What? What’s so funny?”

It took a minute for Jarvis to be able to quell his rumbling chuckles enough to answer.

_‘It would seem, Young Sir, that you have made quite an impression on our little hatchlings. They’ve imprinted on you.’_

“What, like a duckling?”

_‘Quite like. You were the first living creature they encountered after hatching. It’s quite natural, actually, particularly when a larger threat is perceived nearby. I suppose congratulations are in order. You’re a mother, Young Sir.’_

He sounded far too amused for Tony’s liking.

“Very funny,” he groused. “They just got scared, that’s all.”

Jarvis huffed another cloud of smoke.

_‘While normally I would allow you to continue to labor under your delusions for my own amusement, I’m afraid this is far more serious than you give it credence,’_ the dragon insisted. _‘These little ones see you as their protector and their parent. They will depend on you, and accept no other as substitute.’_

Tony froze, every bit as scared by this prospect as he was by the possibility of a bilgesnipe.

“But… I can hardly take care of _myself_ most days! How am I supposed to take care of _three baby dragons?_ ” he protested. “Oh, God, Lord Fury’s gonna kill me!”

Jarvis stepped closer, curling his neck around Tony’s back so his head rested against Tony’s opposite side.

_‘Be at peace, Young Sir. You will not be alone. As always, I will be at your side. If I have managed to take care of you all these years, I am sure I will have little trouble taking care of three hatchlings.’_

Tony felt like he should be a little insulted.

“Are you telling me I’m worse than three baby dragons?”

_‘By far,’_ Jarvis assured with another rumbling chuckle. _‘But we have been out here in the open for much too long now. We should travel the rest of the way to SHIELD and the safety they can provide. The hatchlings will be hungry, too, I am sure, and there will be food for them there.’_

Tony grumbled.

“We aren’t through talking about this. I don’t know when you got so sassy, but I do not approve.”

_‘Of course, Young Sir,’_ the dragon said, and he was definitely smirking while he said it. _‘I will bear that in mind for all future conversations, I assure you.’_

Tony was pretty sure Sir Rogers never had to deal with these kinds of things.


End file.
